Let’s call it what it is:
November and December are the cash grab months for nonprofits.
Thanksgiving, Tuesday Cash Grab (aka Giving Tuesday) and year-end campaigns.
Direct mail, email, social media, texts, QR codes. We use whatever we have at our disposal to get our fundraising campaign in front of our audience.
The goal is to raise whatever amount has been designated for this time of year. For a very decent number of nonprofits, the year-end campaign is their biggest.
The data corroborates all of this: 35% of ALL giving takes place in December. 12% of ALL giving occurs in the last three days of December.
So yeah, it’s understandable why everyone in the nonprofit world is stressed and anxious.
Having managed my fair share of year-end campaigns, I get it. You’re nervous about what’ll happen if you don’t hit your goal.
Will you still have a job at the start of 2025? Will your nonprofit still be in operation? There are plenty of people in our sector tossing and turning at night because they don’t know if their campaign will succeed or not.
So before I get into today’s post, I wanna send hugs to everyone reading this. I know how crazy the next 6 weeks will be. You won’t have a second to breathe, let alone take time off for the holidays.
Here’s my wish for you: I hope you not only hit your goal but surpass it.
The Day After
Nonprofits put a lot of time, effort and money into their year-end campaign. Seven layers of middle management have to approve every word. We want to put our best face forward to raise max dollars from max donors.
But I think something gets lost in all the hullaballoo of the ask: What’s next.
A donation is never the end of the road. It’s just the beginning.
There’s gratitude, demonstrating impact, sharing stories, constant and consistent communications so the donor knows their gift is doing good in the world. Only then can you make the next ask.
This is where many organizations get tripped up. They’re so focused on raising max dollars over these two months that they forget they’ll need to raise money again in 2025. We’re so busy preparing for today we forget that tomorrow is gonna happen.
This is EXACTLY when and where donor retention takes a nosedive. You bombard people with asks and once they’ve given they hear nothing from you. Crickets.
How does that make a donor feel? Like a cash cow. An ATM. Like they don’t matter.
So no wonder the following year they stop giving to you! It shouldn’t surprise you they go and search for a different nonprofit to share their philanthropy dollars with.
Which means you have to go out and find a new donor to replace the one who left. Here’s a little secret: Acquisition costs 5-10 times more than retention.
If you’re kvetching about a money shortage, start the complaining in house rather than emailing subscribers with an emergency campaign. It’s your own fault: You’re literally letting donors walk away.
Your To-Do List
So what should you have ready NOW as you enter the big giving season? Here’s a short list:
- Gratitude letters– both for mailing and emailing- to individuals: Lead with the generosity of the donor (that they gave) and NOT the amount they gave. Lead with impact- if in your ask you shared a problem that a person can solve by donating, use the gratitude letter to demonstrate how their gift solved the problem.
- Follow up gratitude email: For those who donate online, I hope they receive an automatic thanks email. But that’s not the end. A couple of days later email and thank them AGAIN for their gift. A surprise, unexpected thank you that is heartfelt, warm and genuine will be remembered by donors. (And when gratitude is memorable, that’s when retention and donor lifetime value go up.)
- Gratitude email for EVERYONE on your list: You may have subscribers who didn’t give at year-end but that doesn’t mean you shut them out. Share with everyone the collective good the year-end campaign did. All that money raised? Tell people the good they did as individuals and as a collective. Send this one out in early January.
- Impact stories: You’re gonna be sending a lot of email asks, especially in December. Sprinkle in some other content! Share an email or two with success stories, stories that show donors (and prospective donors) how their gift is making their community a better place.
- Happy holidays: Prepare an email that wishes everyone happy holidays. This year multiple holidays are happening around the same time. Send an email wishing everyone a wonderful holiday. No ask.
- Database update: With all the donations that will be coming in, set aside some time in early January to make sure everything is updated in your database.
- Postcards, written notes, phone calls: In January, do something different for donors. Call them and thank them for their contribution. Send a postcard with a brief note on the back. Add a post-it note to a thank you letter and send a personal message to a donor.
This is just a short list but a good start.
Don’t make your end of year campaign be all about the money. Make it all about the impact a donor can have and the good they’ll be doing in the world.
You’ll raise more that way. You’ll retain more donors that way. Your nonprofit will grow and thrive.
P.S. In case you’re wondering about the title of this piece…
In November of 1983 ABC aired a Sunday night movie titled “The Day After.” It was at the height of the Cold War between the U.S. and Soviet Union. The made-for-TV movie depicted what would happen if nuclear war broke out between the two superpowers.
100 million people watched it that Sunday night. It became the hottest topic of discussion in all media outlets.
There is always a day after and things have to get done. Whether that’s the day after your fundraising campaign ends or the day after a nuclear war.
